Saturday, 16 May 2015

Better Than Perfect Review

"Juliet seemingly has it all.Popular,pretty,with laidback,loving parents, a devoted boyfriend and an effortless straight A report card. But then the cracks start to show-and soon her home life is in chaos, her relationship is on the rocks and her glittering college future uncertain.Can Juliet piece her perfect life back together before the shockwaves threaten to collapse it completely?"Better Than Perfect by Melissa KantorWhen I read the blurb for this book, it sounded right up my street and something that I would really enjoy. I was not wrong!As I am currently in secondary school and studying for my GCSE's next year, I found dealing with the stress of high school, and balancing everything else that Juliet has to, really relatable and this felt like a honest portrayal of what school is like.When things start getting bad for Juliet's mum and she sinks into depression, this is where Juliet's life starts to change. She starts to realise that maybe she won't end up with the dream life that she had planned, but is this even what she really truly wanted in the first place? This book is about self discovery, and that things are allowed to mess up from time to time, they don't always have to be perfect. They just have to be okay and manageable and Juliet realises this.I believe that Juliet is a flawed character and she is complex, however I do like her character as she feels honest and real, she is relatable.She cheats on her boyfriend with someone she hasn't known that long( spoiler !!! ), and she makes decisions that just aren't that thought out at all, but that's life and she is only young, so I believe that Melissa is trying to show us that you can make mistakes and that's fine, it's just how you deal with them after that counts. The book doesn't have romance at it's primary focus and that's a good thing, it was more about what Juliet wanted out of life, and her having to cope with everything that is thrown at her.I was pleased that the ending is open to interpretation really, you don't know what's going to happen and I like that, as not everything in life has a definite answer and resolution.I enjoyed the characters of this book, however I would of liked some of them to have been spoke about more and really found out more about them, and their life.It was a good quick read and I'd definitely recommend it to others.